The Rochester Sentinel 1970 - Fulton County Public Library

Clyde L. Thomas
Clyde L. THOMAS, 76, Argos, died at 12:15 a.m. today at his residence. He had been ill
six years and serious five days.
A retired farmer, he was born July 30, 1893, near Teegarden, Ind., the son of Martin and
Mary JONES THOMAS. His marriage was Jan. 29, 1921, at Plymouth, to Mary E. HEMINGER,
who survives. He had resided in the Argos community 18 months, moving from Culver.
Also surviving are three sisters, Mrs. Cecilia HINE, Mishawaka; Mrs. Walter (Chloe)
COLDREN, Rich Valley, and Mrs. Norman (Opal) HUNT, Barron, Wis.; one brother, Floyd
THOMAS, Plymouth. One son, Walter [THOMAS], died in 1949.
Final rites will be at 2 p.m. Sunday in the Grossman funeral home. Elder Walter
MANGUN will officiate. Burial will be in the Masonic cemetery at Culver. Friends may call at
the funeral home after 1 p.m. Saturday.
[no obits]
Saturday, May 2, 1970
Monday, May 4, 1970
Herman “Mike” Denton,
Elmer E. Snethen, and
Eula E. Berrier
Fulton county’s worst traffic accident since 1964 claimed the lives of three Rochester
persons Saturday in a two-car crash at 9:55 a.m. at Ind. 25, and County Road 300 North, about two
miles northeast of the city.
Dead are Herman “Mike” DENTON, 72, R.R. 2, Rochester; Elmer E. SNETHEN, 74,
1125 Franklin avenue, and Mrs. Dee (Eula) BERRIER, 78, also R.R. 2, Rochester.
Denton was killed instantly, Snethen died in Woodlawn hospital at 11:55 a.m. and Mrs.
Berrier died in the same hospital at 12:35 p.m.
State Trooper Joe FOSTER, the investigating officer, said Denton suffered a broken
neck, skull fracture and multiple jaw fractures; Snethen sustained skull fracture, internal bleeding
of the head, multiple broken ribs and ruptured aorta, and Mrs. Berrier suffered ruptured vein in the
liver, multiple broken ribs and internal bleeding.
Foster said Snethen was driving a 1964 Rambler west on County Road 300 North, with
Denton as a passenger. Mrs. Berrier was going south on Ind. 25 in a 1967 Chrysler. A witness
told Foster that Snethen failed to yield the right-of-way and drove into the intersection in the path
of Mrs. Berrier. The Berrier car hit the Snethen auto broadside.
Snethen was thrown to the grass and the other two persons remained in the cars as they
went off the southwest corner of the intersection, stopping in a fence row about 75 feet away.
The Snethen car sustained $3,000 damage and the Berrier auto $1,000 loss.
The sheriff’s office assisted Foster at the scene. Dr. Wayne KNOCHEL, Fulton county
coroner, pronounced Denton dead at the scene.
The deaths were the second, third and fourth of the year in Fulton county traffic
accidents. The first fatal crash in the county this year was April 17 when Earl BOND, 45,
Rochester, was killed when his pickup truck hit a semi-rig on U.S. 31, at Ind. 110.
The county had only one traffic fatality last year.